Commercial Metals Company announced Friday that it reached final settlement in the Standard Iron Works v. Arcelor Mittal et al. lawsuit in the amount of approximately $4 million, which the Company estimates is less than the anticipated cost to the Company of continuing to defend the lawsuit.
The class action litigation, filed in September 2008 on behalf of the direct purchasers of steel products, alleged violation of the federal antitrust laws by eight US steel producers through allegedly concerted restrictions on production. Commercial Metals Company has denied from the outset any and all wrongdoing in connection with the claims that have or could have been alleged against the Company in the lawsuit, and the agreed upon settlement contains no admission of liability from the Company.
The settlement requires preliminary and final approval by the Court, which the Company anticipates it will receive. Despite the Company's belief, after extensive discovery and investigation of the facts, that the claims lack merit and that it has full and complete defenses to all of the claims asserted against it, the Company agreed to enter into the settlement to avoid further expense, inconvenience, and distraction of burdensome and protracted litigation.